Davidson Deserves A Hug

March 30, 2008

Before this NCAA tournament, like most people, I didn’t know much about the Davidson Wildcat basketball team; other than they hadn’t lost a game since Friday, December 21 of last year. That left them coming into today’s Elite 8 matchup with an impressive 25 straight wins. And like I just said I hadn’t really heard much about Davidson before Selection Sunday and wasn’t a fan of them. Yet at the end of the these last few games that I have watched them play in the tournament I have found myself rooting for them, even if that meant them messing up my bracket (which they did, by the way).

Davidson, the hero #10 seed, took down some of the best teams in the nation during their tournament run in #7 seed Gonzaga, #2 seed Georgetown, and #3 seed Wisconsin, not to mention playing Kansas, a definitive top four team in the nation, down to the wire. It would have been real interesting if Davidson had the chance to play UNC next weekend for a trip to the championship, as the Wildcats lost a close 68-72 game to the Tar Heels in November.

As for Stephen Curry, and his 25.3 points per game this season (32 per game during the tournament), I think this definitely won’t be the last we see of him. First, Davidson only has two graduating seniors on their team, and have to be excited for next season. Second, and probably more important to Curry as an individual, he very realistically could end up in the National Basketball Association. But don’t tell Curry that; if you ask him about his team’s success in the tournament, he’ll tell you what any good teammate says. The Davidson Wildcats played as a team and won as a team.